“The wary humor Israelis felt about Kissinger’s style was reflected in an old matchmaking joke that was told about him at the time. Kissinger decides to play matchmaker and informs a poor peasant that he has found the perfect wife for his son. ‘But I never meddle in my son’s affairs,’ says the peasant.
‘Ah, but the girl is the daughter of Lord Rothschild,’ says Kissinger.
‘Well, in that case…’
Then Kissinger goes to Lord Rothschild. ‘I have the perfect husband for your daughter,’ he says.
‘But she’s too young,’ Lord Rothschild protests.
‘Ah, but the boy is a vice president of the World Bank.’
‘Well, in that case…’
Then Kissinger goes to the president of the World Bank, saying, ‘Have I got a vice president for you.’
‘But we don’t need another one.’
‘Ah,’ says Kissinger, ‘but he is the son-in-law of Lord Rothschild.’”
An Israeli joke about Henry Kissinger told during Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy” in the wake of the October War. As quoted from Walter Isaacson’s 1992 book Kissinger: A Biography, published by Simon & Schuster (which I recommend).